Summit High School baseball closes season with strong second half

Summit High School starting pitcher Luke Egging fires to a Battle Mountain High School batter at a 2014 game. Egging led the Tigers' pitching staff this season with a 2.85 ERA to earn 4A Western Slope First Team All-Conference honors.

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The Summit High School Tigers baseball team closed its season this week with games at Battle Mountain Monday and at Eagle Valley Tuesday. Summit came from behind in thrilling fashion Monday against Battle Mountain. Down 4-1 in the sixth, the team rallied to tie the game headed into the final inning. Then with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, freshman Luke Nataro blasted a shot into the outfield for a walk-off inside-the-park homerun. Summit took the win 5-4.

“It’s probably the most exciting win of the season for us,” Tigers head coach Tom Looby said of the win.

Hoping to carry the momentum and end on a high note, the Tigers faced playoff-bound Eagle Valley Tuesday. Unable to find an answer for Eagle Valley pitcher Travis Edgar, Summit fell to the Devils 10-0.

“They are a very good team, and we faced their best pitcher,” Looby said. “He kind of dominated us.”

The Tigers ended their season with a 7-12 record (4-10 in-conference).

The good news for the young Tiger squad is that six of its seven wins came in the second half of the season, giving the team some momentum headed into next year.

“We had a slow start,” Looby said of the team’s 1-8 first-half record. The team closed the season 6-5.

“It’s always a combination of things,” he explained. “We have a limited ability to get outside early in the year. Our pitching and fielding got stronger as the season went on.”

The Tigers started six juniors and two freshman for the balance of the year and will only lose three seniors, giving the team substantial playing experience headed into next spring.

“We feel like getting to seven wins is definite progress, but it’s still short of our goal,” Looby said, adding the team is eyeing a winning season and a playoff appearance next year.

“We’re optimistic that we will be able to achieve both of those goals next year,” he said. “I think we will have a good crew of folks to improve on the progress we made this year.”